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Starting in May, Chinese netizens will soon be able to own and pass down online property as China launches its first virtual property notarization services.
The legality of who owns online property, and what to do with online accounts if the players die or get e-divorced has long been a topic of interest in China. Last year, a woman sought access rights to her husband's QQ chat account after her husband passed away; her request was rejected by Tecent.
QQ is a highly popular instant messaging service in China. It is owned and operated by Chinese internet giant Tencent.
When she inquired as to why she wasn't allowed to gain access, it was discovered that QQ users do not "own" their QQ accounts, but instead have limited rights to use them. According to Tencent's terms and conditions for QQ, "the right to use an account belongs solely to the original applicant, and this right shall not be gifted, loaned, rented, transferred or sold."
Public outrage over the whole affair eventually pressured Tencent to allow the woman access to her husband's account; however, the question as to who owns online property was never answered.
Now to prevent such incidents again from happening, the Baoshan Shanghai Notary Office in Baoshan district Shanghai is launching a virtual account notary service beginning in May.
Currently, the Baoshan Shanghai Notary Office will only provide notary services to the Journey games operated by Giant Interactive. In an interview with Tencent Games, the office says that it expects to solve some of the problems regarding digital inheritances and to learn from the experience in order to expand its services.
我国首现虚拟帐号公证服务 获国家部门支持 [Tencent Game News Channel]
(Top photo: China Photos | AP)


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New video game figures of Naked Snake and multiple Metal Gears...
For a great selection of action figures and collectibles, check out BigBadToyStore.com, BriansToys.com, ToyWiz.com, SmallJoes.com, PastGenerationToys.com, SuperHeroToys.com, MonkeyDepot.com, HobbyLinkJapan.com, and Sekaido.com.
For a great selection of pop culture t-shirts and apparel, check out TShirtGurus.com and 80sTees.com.
Fans of the ongoing video game series Metal Gear Solid will be excited to know Konami is working with collectibles manufacture Square Enix to create a line of figures based on the forthcoming PSP game Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, which puts players back in the boots of Naked Snake (aka Big Boss).
While few specifics are known about the figures, what is known is the five pieces currently planned will be a part of the Square Enix Play Arts Kai line, will feature a generous amount of articulation, and will include various game-accurate accessories.
While release dates and prices are still to be determined, it's estimated the first figure in the series - Sneaking Suit Naked Snake - will hit shelves as early as June.
Check back soon for more information as it becomes available.
The figures currently scheduled for release in the Square Enix Play Arts Kai Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker series include:
- Jungle Fatigues Naked Snake (no pictures available)
- Sneaking Suit Naked Snake (pictured at top/below)
- Air Mech (below)
- Ground Mech (below)
- Walker Mech (below)

subset: commoncrawl


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Geography /
Arabic: sahrā'
Its maximum length is 4,800 km, running from west to east, and up to 1,200 km from north to south. Sahara covers most of Mauritania, Western Sahara, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Niger and Mali, and touches Morocco and Tunisia.
To the north, Sahara is bordered by the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea; in the west by the Atlantic Ocean; in the south, the desert zone reaches 16º northern latitude; in the east it is bordered by the Nile. Still the desert continues to the east of the river until it reaches the Red Sea, but this is not considered a part of the Sahara.
Sahara is very dry but there is an annual rainfall in most regions, although just a few dozens of millimetre.
Sahara has a subtropical climate in its northern parts, and a tropical one in the south. Winters in the north are cold to cool; in the south, mild. Summers are hot all over the desert. The highest temperature every recorded is 58ºC in Aziziyah, Libya. There is very little rain in the northern parts, virtually nothing in the east, although more in the south. Most rain falls throughout the summer, followed by some scarce winter rain.
About a quarter of Sahara consists of mountains. The highest peak reaches 3415, being Emi Koussi in Chad. Some mountain peaks may even have snow in the winter. The main mountain ranges are Hoggar in Algeria; Aïr/Azbine in Niger; and Tibesti in Chad. The Sahara's lowest point lies in the Qattara Depression in Egypt, at about 130 metres below sea level.
Sand sheets and dunes represent about 25% of the Sahara; the other parts are mountains, stoney steppes and oases. Pyramidal dunes can be as high as 150 metres, while mountainous sand ridges as high as 350 metres.
There are several rivers running through the Sahara, of which the Nile River and Niger River are the only permanent ones. The rest being seasonal, involves that most of the time, there is only a dry river bed, which may carry water for brief periods following uncommon rainfalls. There may be years in between this happening.
Metallic minerals are very important to most Saharan countries. Algeria and Mauritania have several major deposits of iron ore, while smaller deposits are found in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Western Sahara and Niger. Copper is found in Mauritania and manganese in Algeria. Small deposits of uranium are widely distributed in the Sahara, while Niger has the largest deposits. Phosphates are found in great quantities in Morocco and Western Sahara, and are already well-exploited. Algeria's phosphate production is smaller, but large enough for exports. Oil is mainly found in Algeria, and is of great importance to the economy of the entire country. While the mineral exploitation has led to economic growth in Sahara, this has rarely helped the indigenous population, as skilled workers have been brought in to the different fields.
Of the Sahara's around 4 million people, most live in Mauritania, Western Sahara, Algeria, Libya and Egypt. Dominant groups of people are Sahrawis, Tuareg and Negroids. The largest city is Nouakchott, Mauritania's capital. Other important cities are Tamanrasset in Algeria, and Sebha and Ghat in Libya.
Only 200,000 km² of Sahara are fertile oases, where dates, corn and fruits are grown. The few fertile regions today are fed by underground rivers and underground basins. Many of Sahara's oases rests in depressions (areas under sea level) allowing water to surface from underground reservoirs; artesian wells.
The soil in Sahara is low in organic matter, and often biologically inactive. The soil in depressions is often saline. Animal life is limited to gazelles, antelopes, jackals, foxes, badgers and hyena.
Other sorts of vegetation include scattered concentrations of grasses, shrubs and trees in the highlands, as well as in the oases and along river beds. Some plants are well adjusted to the climate, allowing them to germinate within 3 days of rain and sow their seeds within 2 weeks after that.
Animal life of Sahara include gerbil, jerboa, cape hare and desert hedgehog, barbary sheep, oryx, gazelle, deer, wild ass, baboon, hyena, jackal, sand fox, weasel and mongoose. The bird life counts more than 300 species.


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Microbe Magazine
Cover Image
Cover: Electron micrograph of brain tissue from a monkey infected with the prion disease kuru. Between the rounded nuclei of the nerve cells (green) are tiny vacuole spaces typical of the disease's dark spots (see p. 551). (Image PHANIE/Photo Researchers, Inc.).
Microbe Magazine, Cover Image
Cover ImageVaccines are crucial for controlling the spread of influenza, but currently are only effective against a limited mix of strains. A universal vaccine remains elusive, but progress is being made (see p. 433). (Image © James King-Holmes/ Science Source.)
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Chilly weather may still be lingering in some areas of the U.S., but there's light at the end of the tunnel — Thursday brings the Vernal Equinox, or the official beginning of spring.
Twice a year, the earth's axis is angled such that the world gets an equal amount of daylight and night. As the axis tilts further, the northern hemisphere receives more direct sunlight, leading to spring and summer's warmer temperatures. The Equinox helps mark important celebrations around the world like Nowruz, the Persian New Year, Easter, and Passover.
Put away the jackets and gloves and break out the pastel colors, because spring is finally here.
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Ralph Lauren: A romantic revolutionary
Ralph Lauren had timeless heroines who were independent and bold on his mind at his Friday morning downtown show on the last day of New York Fashion week.
His runway unfolded like a movie about some rebellious beauty during the Russian Revolution trapped at a seaside village where she dressed in black nautical garb – shapely coats, a crested officer's jacket, sailor pants, breeches, fisherman's sweaters, leather admiral caps and high boots --looking to escape (although we'd want to stay if we could wear these clothes) into a new life of glamour.
And glamorous it was, as she makes the break, ending up ensconced in the land of evening looks. Lauren showed some 15 of these stunners, many in black. One, a pleated leather/silk evening dress worn with a fur Russian hat, oozed power and femininity all at once. A glorious velvet column of midnight blue boasted a massive, built-in jeweled collar. A fluttery dark forest green gown was topped by a matching green shearling and feather bolero…oh the drama. Last look at our heroine, she has wearing a dreamy shearling capelet over a champagne tulle beaded confection…happily ever after, we assume.


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This baby fell out of the hole in my pantry wall.
It was running around lost and hungry. So far it's been 3 full days and it's getting stronger.
Hopefully I can keep it alive till it's able to fly. I have read that 95% of birds found die for one reason or another.
I figure I'll play the odds...5% is better than nothing.


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Megan Fox has been axed from "Transformers 3," Access Hollywood has confirmed.
A source at Paramount, the studio behind the film, told Access that Megan, who played star Shia LaBeouf's love interest in the franchise, would not return for the third movie.
The source said that in order to take Shia's character – Samuel James Witwicky — in a new direction, it was better if Sam wasn't tied down to a love interest.
A rep for Megan was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Access Hollywood on Wednesday.
Nikki Finke, who first reported the news for Deadline that Megan was out, claimed that decision was "ultimately" director Michael Bay's.
Bay's rep was also not immediatley available for comment when contacted by Access.
The news of Megan's departure from the "Transformers 3" cast comes just months after a dispute emerged between Megan, unnamed "Transformers" crewmembers and even the director.
Megan compared her director to "Hitler" and "Napoleon" during an interview with Britain's Wonderland Magazine's September/October 2009 issue.
"He's like Napoleon and he wants to create this insane, infamous mad-man reputation," Megan said at the time.
"He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is," she continued. "So he's a nightmare to work for but when you get him away from set, and he's not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy his personality because he's so awkward, so hopelessly awkward."
Shortly thereafter, members of the "Transformers" crew posted an open letter on the director's site, condemning the actress for her behavior on set, calling Megan, "the grump of the set," as well as "thankless, classless, graceless" and "unfriendly."
The letter was quickly removed and Michael eventually addressed all the comments a short while later.
"I don't condone the crew letter to Megan. And I don't condone Megan's outlandish quotes," Bay wrote in a blog post on his official Web site. "But her crazy quips are part of her crazy charm. The fact of the matter I still love working with her, and I know we still get along. I even expect more crazy quotes from her on Transformers 3."
"Transformers 3" has reportedly already begun filming.
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Hollywood's Bisexual Community
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Katy! Zoe! Megan! Oh My! Maxim's 2010 Hot 100: The Top 20
PLAY IT NOW: 2010 Summer Movie Preview
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MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Transformers - Megan Fox - Shia LaBeouf - News - Young Hollywood


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"Long Live The King' wristbands go on sale
PHUKET: The King Power Foundation, Siam Commercial Bank, the Thailand Post and the Thai Military Bank are producing "Long Live The King" silicon wristbands and accompanying greetings cards to mark the 60th anniversary of HM King Bhumibol's accession to the throne.
Last year, the King Power Foundation manufactured 1 million similar wristbands, sales of which raised 105 million baht for His Majesty's royal charities.
The royal yellow silicon wristbands will cost 100 baht each and will feature the words, "We Love the King" in Thai and "Long Live the King" in English. On the inside of the wristband is written, "In commemoration of 60 years reign, long live the King" in Thai as well as the auspicious number 9.
Greetings cards are included with the sale of every wristband, to be used to convey best wishes to His Majesty.
The chief of Phuket Post Office, Wisarn Pongtiwatanakul, told the Gazette, "We have about 56,000 wristbands at Phuket Post Office at the moment and they are also available at the King Power Duty Free Shop, Siam Commercial Banks and Thai Military Banks. They will be on sale until May 31."
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Phuket prepares to welcome first Chinese tourists in over 6 months
The first group of tourists to arrive under Thailand's new Special Tourist Visa scheme are expected to land in Phuket on October 8. The Bangkok Post reports that a flight from Guangzhou in southern China will carry 120 tourists, who will spend their first 14 days in alternative state quarantine. They are reported to be travelling under the government's new STV.
Arrivals who do not pass the initial health screening will be transferred to specially chosen hospitals, as "Patients under Investigation". Those who do pass the screening will be transported to alternative state quarantine once they've gone through immigration processing.
A Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration spokesperson says the resort islands of Phuket and Koh Samui will be the first to welcome travellers under the Special Tourist Via scheme. He pointed out that Guangzhou has not recorded any new cases of the Covid-19 virus for a prolonged period, meaning next week's tourist arrivals are deemed "low risk". His assertion is confirmed from the official figures at worldometer.info website recording world Covid-19 cases.
The CCSA reports that there will be a limit of 300 foreign tourists admitted each week, but this will be reviewed after the first phase of the re-opening. All arrivals will be subject to 14 day quarantine, although the Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn has suggested reducing this to 7 days eventually. The CCSA says they are not considering reducing the quarantine time at this stage.
Thiravat Hemachudha from the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Disease Health Science Centre is not opposed to the idea.
"We can study this with foreign visitors who will arrive next month. During the 14 day quarantine they will be tested on the first, the seventh and the fourteenth day. If they are free of infections, we can shorten the quarantine to 7 days."
However, not all are in agreement, with a doctor from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University cautioning against any shortening of the quarantine period.
Meanwhile, Phuket governor, Narong Woonsiew, says the province is ready to welcome the new arrivals, with Covid-19 labs in place at Phuket airport, and officials due to carry out a full dress rehearsal today.
Thanit Sermkaew, chief of the Phuket Public Health Office, says over 1,200 rooms at 9 hotels have been chosen as alternative state quarantine properties, with a total of 73 hotels, providing over 5,800 rooms, applying for consideration.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
Catch up with the latest daily "Thailand News Today" here on The Thaiger.Keep in contact with The Thaiger by following our Facebook page.
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Woman arrested for abandoning newborn baby on a bench in Phuket
Police tracked down and arrested a Burmese woman who allegedly left her newborn baby on a bench in Phuket's Patong area last week. The mother faces charges of abandoning a baby.
The newborn was left in a reusable shopping bag on a bench behind a Krungthai Bank branch. A woman in the area heard the baby crying and found the newborn in the bag along with a bottle of milk, diapers and clothing. Police reviewed surveillance camera footage shows a woman, police later identified as Ei Ei Phyu, leaving the bag on the bench.
Police say the woman gave birth on September 9 at a local hospital in Surat Thani's Phun Phin district. Ei Ei allegedly took a van from Surat Thani to Phuket on September 22 and stayed with a friend in Patong. The early the next morning, she allegedly left her baby on the bench before boarding a bus back to Surat Thani.
Burmese workers in the Patong area told police Ei Ei used to work at a local Indian food restaurant before she moved to Surat Thani to work as a rubber tapper. Ei Ei allegedly told police she is not in the position to raise a child.
In earlier reports, police said the baby is healthy and does not appear to have any injuries.
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Phuket police arrest 6 after finding large amounts of methamphetamine in raid
Phuket Provincial Police have arrested 6 people after finding large amounts of methamphetamine and other drugs during a raid. One suspect alone allegedly had 7.6 kilograms of crystal meth (ya ice) and over 12,500 methamphetamine pills (ya bah). 29 year old Surasak 'Bank' Wijit and 27 year old Panida 'Mei' Saeyang were arrested at an apartment car park in Soi Lookkaew, Moo 6, Rassada, in eastern Phuket, after they were found in possession of the drugs.
Police also found 2 mobile phones and a red Honda PCX, registered in Phuket, as evidence. Both suspects have been charged with posessing a Category 1 drug with the intent to sell.
Other suspects arrested at the same time include 36 year old from Chiang Rai, 42 year old Sarawut 'An' Srichanon, from Ranong and 31 year old Pornthep 'Iew' Thepchampa, who were charged with the same crimes in Chalong after police found more drugs in their possession. 33 year old Kamon 'Kung' Sae-ngow, was arrested as well after police found kratom juice and leaves at a house in Rassada. He was taken to Phuket City Police station and was charged with a Category 5 drug possession.
SOURCE:The Phuket NewsKeep in contact with The Thaiger by following our Facebook page.
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Similan Islands to reopen on October 15 with 'new normal' policy
'Bad Student' group plan protest after alleged abuse at Sarasas school
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Opening borders could cause a second Covid-19 outbreak, epidemiologist says
The Special Tourist Visa is now official and allows tourists in from October 1
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Expat shift drives changes in Bangkok's condo market
Buy a meal on a Thai Vietjet flight, get a 40% discount at a hotel
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Police confiscate 300 kilos of marijuana in central Thailand drugs bust
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Thailand News Today | Waiting for vaccine, new face of Thailand expats, teacher complaints | Oct 1
Thailand News Today | Phuket re-opens, TripAdvisor review saga, Samut Prakhan chem spill | Sept 30
Thailand News Today | Visa amnesty extended, first STV tourists, teacher sacked | September 29
Thailand News Today | Rumours of amnesty extension, 22 new Covid cases | September 28
Thailand News Today | Emergency Decree, Parliamentary protest, Dark days for hotels | September 25
Thailand News Today | Visa amnesty, sealing Burmese border, Thai airways creditors | September 24
Thailand News Today | Surachet sues, The Nude Panda | September 23
Thailand News Today | Protesters face arrest | Phuket "in a coma"| September 22
Thailand News Today | Amnesty finishes, protest round-up | September 21, 2020
Heavy rain, big protest tomorrow, special tourist visa | Thailand News Today | September 18
Thailand News Today | Hotels wary, rain on the way | September 17, 2020
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News & Notes: Game 15
Follow the Herd:
Listen to the Game Live: CLICK HERE!
Bisons Baseball Network: CLICK HERE!
Email the Broadcast Team: CLICK HERE!
Everything about the Herd: CLICK HERE!
Get to a Bisons Game: CLICK HERE!
TODAY'S GAME: Today, the Buffalo Bisons host the Syracuse Chiefs in the third game of a four-game series from Coca-Cola Field (1:05 p.m.). The Herd needs a win this afternoon and tomorrow to earn a split of the four-game series. Syracuse has won the first two games, 4-0 and 6-5. After this series, the Bisons will head to Rochester for a two-game set against the Red Wings.
CRAZY EIGHTS: INF Michel Abreu and OF Fernando Martinez both drove in runs in yesterday's loss. For each, the RBI was their eighth of the season as the sluggers remained tied atop the team's charts. So far this season, Abreu has hit .417 (5-12) with runners in scoring position. Both of his homeruns this season have come with runners in scoring position as well.
SOLID RELIEF: LHP Ken Takahashi pitched another scoreless inning of relief yesterday. The southpaw has not allowed a run since Opening Day and is working on 10 consecutive innings of scoreless relief (over five games). If Takahashi had one more third of an inning pitched, his 0.77ERA would qualify as the 3rd lowest mark in the International League.
F-MART: OF Fernando Martinez still tops all International League hitters with his eight doubles on the season. He is now 3rd in the IL in extra-base hits with 10. Martinez has hit in nine of his last 11 games with the Bisons, averaging .298 (14-47).
SPEED LIMIT: The Bisons' catchers lead the International League in both times caught stealing (9) and percentage (45%). The Herd has allowed just 11 stolen bases in 20 attempts by its opponents.
IN LIKE A LAMB: The Mets signed INF Mike Lamb to a minor league contract yesterday. Lamb has hit .277 with 69 homeruns and 345RBI over nine major league seasons. He will report to extended spring training in Port St. Lucie, FL before being assigned to the Bisons.
OH NELLY: The New York Mets have also re-signed RHP Nelson Figueroa to a minor league deal. Figueroa posted a 3.00ERA in two starts for the Bisons this year before being promoted by the Mets on April 18. Figueroa was 0-1 with a 4.50ERA in one start with New York (6.0IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 3K).


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The value of a Saint Louis University education is measured not in the facts you will retain but in the person you will become. It's our goal to remove financial barriers that may stand in the way.
Admission to SLU is based on achievement, ambition and personal potential – not on your financial resources or ability to pay. We offer a wealth of scholarships and financial aid programs to recognize academic performance and ensure no student who belongs here will be kept away by cost. Each year, around 40 percent of SLU undergraduates complete their degree with no student debt.
Scholarships, Grants, Loans and More
Our scholarship programs recognize academic merit, financial need, Jesuit high school graduates, multiple sibling enrollees, aptitude and performance (athletics, the arts, etc.).
Additional financial aid programs include: need-based grants, loan programs and work opportunities. Aid is available to eligible students at all levels of the University. In addition, some schools, colleges or programs may offer their own opportunities, including the School of Law, School of Medicine and the School for Professional Studies.
You can also use our cost calculator to estimate your costs after factoring in financial aid, housing, meal plans and more.
How to Apply for Financial Aid
We try to make applying for financial aid at SLU both seamless and manageable for you and your family. Most of the process hinges on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is a free tool that calculates your expected family contribution (EFC). It's required for need-based assistance or eligibility for low-interest loans.
Our FAFSA school code is 002506.
Applying for and Accepting Aid
Financial Aid TV
Browse Financial Aid TV for answers to some of the most common questions you may have about the process. These short, easy-to-understand videos can help break down the process and everything needed to get an application in on time.
Watch Financial Aid TV
Graduate Students
The financial aid process is a little bit different for graduate students. Here are some of the resources you'll need to finance a graduate education.


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Bacon Blogrolling
Who can resist an all-pork post yesterday in the New York Times about a recipe that has taken the Internet by, well, greasy storm?
The piece, by Damon Darlin, chronicles what started out as an Internet marketing scheme for a site called BBQAddicts.com, but that has turned into one of the more popular dishes online of late.
The dish? "Bacon Explosion."
Writes Darlin: "The instructions for constructing this massive torpedo-shaped amalgamation of two pounds of bacon woven through and around two pounds of sausage and slathered in barbecue sauce first appeared last month on the Web site of a team of Kansas City competition barbecuers. They say a diverse collection of well over 16,000 Web sites have linked to the recipe, celebrating, or sometimes scolding, its excessiveness."
In true Web 2.0 fashion, Bacon Explosion's creators used Twitter, StumbleUpon, Digg, Del.icio.us (of course!) and social-networking sites to get the word out.
And the rest, as they say, is pig-story.
[Photos of Bacon Explosion, courtesy of BBQAddicts.com]


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Hi all, Peddler here.
I am looking to embark on a project this winter. In short, I want to walk the ancient pilgrimage route from Southampton, via Bishops Waltham, to Canterbury, but in medieval kit, circa 14 th century.
I am aiming to get to Canterbury Cathedral on Christmas day.
This is in preparation for a bigger project next year.
My question is this........I am going to need some pretty robust gear as I will be sleeping out the whole way a la 14th century.
I am looking for the right gear and so need advice on manufacturers whose stuff is up to the job and will stand the test for things like boots, cloaks, backpack, walking stick, hat, hood etc.
I have walked many a long distance path in my time, but never in medieval kit, so the sorts of things that would help would be thoughts on things like:
Boots vs shoes?
Oiled leather cloak vs waxed woollen cloak?
Clogs vs pattens?
Hat vs Hood?
Wicker backpack vs oiled canvas shoulder bag?
Plus any good resources you've come across on pilgrimages, pilgrims and especially their equipment.
Thanks for any help.......
Pilgrimage from Southampton to Canterbury
For traders and related people to share
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The IRS has issued its annual notice about undelivered tax refund checks. In all, 99,123 taxpayers are due $153.3 million in refund check that could not be delivered because of mailing address errors.
The average returned refund check is $1,547 this year.
Taxpayers who believe their refund check is among the undelivered should use the "Where's My Refund?" tool on the IRS website. The tool will provide the status of their refund and, in some cases, instructions on how to resolve delivery problems.
A telephone version of "Where's My Refund?" is also available by calling 1-800-829-1954.
The IRS correctly advises –
"While only a small percentage of checks mailed out by the IRS are returned as undelivered, taxpayers can put an end to lost, stolen or undelivered checks by choosing direct deposit when they file either paper or electronic returns."
I recommend direct deposit to all my 1040 clients. By using this method taxpayers will receive their refunds at least a week earlier.
The Service also issued a timely reminder (highlight is mine) -
"The public should be aware that the IRS does not contact taxpayers by e-mail to alert them of pending refunds and does not ask for personal or financial information through email. Such messages are common phishing scams. The agency urges taxpayers receiving such messages not to release any personal information, reply, open any attachments or click on any links to avoid malicious code that can infect their computers."


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How outreach ministry Hand of Hope partners and risks to reach the unreached
For as long as I can remember, my mom and dad (Joyce and Dave Meyer) have always looked for ways to help those in need. I've watched them cry with compassion for the homeless, hungry and mistreated—and then do something about it.
From the very beginning, using our resources to reach out to others has been extremely important to them. Our commitment initially started as a tithe—allocating 10 percent of our income to help the hurting through missions efforts. Over the years, that percentage has increased incrementally.
As CEO of Hand of Hope (the missions arm for Joyce Meyer Ministries), helping others is my calling. It's what God created me to do. But witnessing my parents' love for hurting people has influenced the course of my life. Through the years, their lifestyle of radical generosity has transformed the hearts of millions—including mine—and set the groundwork for everything we do through Hand of Hope.
The Bible tells us that "to whom much is given, from him much will be required" (Luke 12:48). God never designed people, churches or other organizations to be the end of the giving cycle. As we look back, we strongly believe our commitment in this area is one reason why our ministry has continued to grow and reach even more people.
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Together We Are Better
In many ways, the phrase "Together we are better" has become my motto. Throughout my life and in my role with Hand of Hope, I have consistently seen how collaboration affords us opportunities to reach previously unreached people. Our partnerships with other organizations have allowed us to accomplish otherwise impossible feats. Sure, we can do a lot by ourselves. But together, our success multiplies exponentially!
One of my first real lessons in this took place years ago. At that time, our ministry had a serious interest in doing more to help the nation of India, where, according to The World Bank, more than 852 million people live on less than $2 a day. Over the course of a few years, we managed to establish a few smaller outreaches which, at the time, seemed like a big step for us. What I didn't know was that God was preparing us for a divine connection that would open up opportunities beyond our imagination.
In the course of ministry work in India, I met a man named Scott Norling, an American who, at that time, had lived in India close to 20 years and had tremendous influence with people we didn't even know. As our relationship with Scott developed, we realized just how much we could accomplish together if we pooled our resources and connections. Fast-forward to 2012.
Because of this partnership with Scott, today my mom's TV program is broadcast in 17 languages across India. In addition, we daily feed more than 8,800 children, operate a state-of-the-art hospital for those who can't afford medical care, run a children's home for those infected with HIV and oversee an anti-human trafficking rehabilitation center. And this isn't even all of it!
I cringe to think what wouldn't have been done if our ministry had insisted on doing it by ourselves.
Scott Norling currently serves as the director of our Asia office. And along the way, we have established key relationships with people like him in many other areas of the world. In total, Joyce Meyer Ministries now partners with more than 50 other organizations worldwide.
No matter how great a ministry or company is or how much influence it has, no organization can specialize in every area. That's why we all need each other. When we all pool our talents, God not only gets in the middle of our efforts, He also gets the credit for the outcome.
"If At First You Don't Succeed..."
Over the years, I've learned another important lesson: Not everything will go as planned. But the truth is that loving people requires effort and a lot of hard work. It requires coming up with solutions and getting creative. And often those solutions and creativity will be inconvenient. While it's fun and satisfying to look at the results of a groundbreaking outreach, the behind-the-scenes reality is that someone did the hard work of breaking up that ground!
We've had our fair share of needing to get creative and more than a bit radical. But we've learned that going the proverbial extra mile can produce tremendous good. When I talk about "pushing through," it's impossible for me not to think of Hope Cambodia: 30 Days of Hope.
In summer 2007, we teamed up with several other organizations and an army of volunteers to pull off a multifaceted outreach in Cambodia. You may remember that more than 2 million people were brutally murdered during the genocide in the 1970s, leaving the country fearful and devastated. God really put it on all of our hearts to step out in faith and do whatever we could to help these precious people move forward with rebuilding their country.
During these 30 days, our ministry and the people who joined us held three outdoor festivals, leadership conferences and multiple medical clinics, ministered to prisoners, and dedicated some of the first "Hope Centers"—orphanages and community centers for children at risk.
From the start of our time there, the enemy opposed us. Before and during the outreach, it was one thing after another. The weather (we were there during the rainy season) just added to the challenges.
Then, toward the end of the 30 days, we faced the greatest adversity yet.
On the final day of the outreach, Mom was scheduled to speak in the Chenla Theater in the heart of Phnom Penh. All the documents had been signed and procedures had been followed. Hillsong's Darlene Zschech and the band Delirious? were getting ready to start when the authorities arrived and cut the power to the building.
Then, unannounced, they locked the gates to the courtyard outside—no one could enter or leave the premises. I had never seen anything like it, and we had no precedent to know how to respond. What do we do now?
Minutes later, Zschech and Delirious? came outside and began to sing. The huge crowd outside the gates joined right in.
Then, before I knew it, my mom and dad—full of determination and the "never give up" spirit they have shown for many years—were climbing over the gate to get inside the courtyard! After worship, my mom preached one of her greatest messages using a bullhorn in the black of night.
No matter how awesome the event would have been inside, it could have never compared to what took place in that courtyard in Phnom Penh that evening.
Challenging times like that night have taught us to never give up. Be radical. Be creative. Some of the projects posing the greatest challenges and risks are the ones I'm most glad I pursued.
The Greatest Message We Will Preach
Through the years, I've seen just about every approach to try and reach people with the gospel—from mass crusades and church services to leadership seminars and all types of humanitarian efforts. Each one can bring a degree of success. But whether it's in America, Latin America, Asia or Africa, people are ultimately reached because they believe you love and care about them. It's a timeless principle we all need to remember as we start to reach out to people and engage them
So many of our outreaches are aimed at relieving suffering—and that's a great thing. But they're also about daily showing people we really care about them as people and that they are not forgotten. We want them to know we're thinking about and praying for them. And if you do that for people long enough, then they eventually want to know what's different about you, what's compelling you to do this for them.
I'll never forget a report I received from one of our original outreaches in India, partially focused on ministering to people with leprosy. In this region, lepers are complete outcasts, shunned from the community. The only interaction they have with the "outside world" is when someone throws a piece of food to them.
Our teams regularly met with them to not only pray for and with them, but also to help alleviate their physical suffering. One common issue was the incredibly painful sores they developed on the bottoms of their feet. One day, a member of our team began to take the bandages off one man's foot and carefully wash the infected areas. Overwhelmed at such an act of love, the man asked, "Why are you touching my feet?" I'm so proud of our team member's response. He replied, "Because there's a God in heaven who wants to touch your heart."
We want every single person we encounter to say that all-important prayer of salvation. But getting them to that point may take a lot of love in action. So many people are in so much physical or emotional pain that they can't even process the "message" until their needs have been met.
I think about Acts 10:38: "He [Jesus] went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil" (NIV). How simple! The One with the greatest ministry in history drew people to Himself over and over in one major way: He loved them. And He is our example. Simply put, loving and caring for others is the greatest message we will ever preach.
One Step at a Time
We see images everywhere we go of suffering people around the world. It can be so overwhelming that we're tempted to think, No matter what I do, it's not going to make a difference. I felt this way years ago, and the Lord clearly spoke to me and said, "I am not asking you to solve all of the issues in the world. But I am asking you to help those I place in front of you."
Bottom line: We're only responsible to do our part. As we take these steps of obedience, then God adds His part and, together, we make a huge difference in the world.
Doing our part won't always be easy. Love requires that we give up our rights and be inconvenienced. It requires us to occasionally take bold steps of obedience and do things we normally wouldn't.
Trust me, I've experienced countless times when I thought, God, are You sure? But later on—down the road when we could see the big picture—we realized He was simply setting us up for a greater blessing and helping us do something we would have never thought to do on our own.
Today, we continue to approach world missions one step at a time—boldly, radically and with a lot of help from others. And we thank God for every single person He allows us in His name.
David L. Meyer serves as CEO of Hand of Hope, the missions arm of Joyce Meyer Ministries. In his role, he is responsible for coordinating humanitarian and disaster relief efforts; managing 13 foreign offices; planning multiple international festivals; and overseeing the foreign broadcast of television and radio programs.
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Kurt Nimmo
January 13, 2012
The head of the Kremlin's Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, has told the Interfax news agency Russia fears Israel will push the United States into attacking Iran.
"There is a likelihood of military escalation of the conflict, towards which Israel is pushing the Americans," said Patrushev, a Vladimir Putin confidant.
"It cannot be ruled out that the Iranians will be able to carry out their threat to shut exports of Saudi oil through the Strait of Hormuz if faced with military actions against them."
A Harvard and MIT study conducted in 2008 stated that Iran has significant littoral warfare capabilities, including mines, antiship cruise missiles, and land-based air defense. It would be able to close down the Strait of Hormuz for a month or more and inflict significant economic damage.
A closure would result in Brent crude prices spiking to between $150 to $200 per barrel and would trigger the release of strategic IEA reserves.
Patrushev said the United States is using Iran's nuclear program as a pretext for regime change in the country. "Talk about Iran creating an atomic bomb by next week we have heard for many years," he said. Instead of making sure Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon, the United States is attempting to overthrow Iran's leadership using "all available means" to make the country into "a loyal partner."
Patrushev also believes the U.S. and NATO will intervene militarily in Syria. "We are getting information that NATO members and some Persian Gulf States, operating according to the Libya scenario, intend to move from indirect intervention in Syrian affairs to direct military intervention," he told Russia's Kommersant newspaper on Thursday.
"This time it is true that the main strikes forces will not be provided by France, the UK or Italy, but possibly by neighboring Turkey which was until recently on good terms with Syria and is a rival of Iran with immense ambitions," the former FSB boss said.
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Fox Networks Group Announces First-Ever Simultaneous Cross-Network Global Premiere Event For "COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY" On Sunday, March 9
COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY to Debut on Sunday, March 9 at 9:00 PM ET/PT, Across 10 U.S. Networks, Including FOX, National Geographic Channel, FX, FXX, FXM, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo and FOX Life
Multi-Network Simulcast, Sponsored by Samsung Galaxy® and the Chrysler brand, Complements Unprecedented Global Launch Set for 200-Plus Fox and National Geographic Channels Worldwide
Thrilling Event Series Will Continue Its 13-Episode Run Airing on FOX on Sundays and National Geographic Channel on Mondays
Feb 14, 2014, 10:20 ET
LOS ANGELES and WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Fox Networks Group (FNG) announced yesterday that COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY will debut simultaneously across multiple U.S. Fox networks, including Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX), National Geographic Channel, FX, FXX, FXM, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo and FOX Life on Sunday, March 9 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). This first multi-network launch event for Fox Networks Group, along with the series debut on Fox International Channels and National Geographic Channels International, will make COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY available on 220 channels in 181 countries, with an overall footprint of more than half a billion homes.
"COSMOS is the kind of rich, epic storytelling that we hope will not only be phenomenal entertainment, but also ignite curiosity and move a generation to take a deeper interest in science and the larger world from which we come," said Peter Rice, Chairman and CEO, Fox Networks Group. "Seth, Ann, Neil and the entire team behind COSMOS have created one of the most incredible experiences ever imagined for television, and we're supporting it with the biggest launch we've ever orchestrated at Fox Networks Group."
After the cross-network premiere event, COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY will continue its epic 13-episode run, airing Sundays (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX, and Mondays – with all-new bonus footage and behind-the-scenes content – on the National Geographic Channel (NGC) (10:00-11:00 PM ET/PT).
Official sponsors Samsung Galaxy® and the Chrysler brand will partner with Fox Networks Group on the cross-network premiere event of COSMOS, in addition to sponsoring the series' full 13-episode run on FOX, on National Geographic Channel and in international markets.
In addition to the 10 U.S. networks simulcasting the premiere episode, Fox International Channels (FIC) and National Geographic Channels International (NGCI), as previously announced, will premiere COSMOS on all 90 National Geographic Channels in 180 countries, as well as 120 FOX-branded channels in 125 countries, making this the largest global launch ever for a television series. Rolling out immediately after the highly anticipated U.S. premiere, international markets will begin airing the premiere episode day and date on both FOX-branded and National Geographic Channels, concluding within one week of the domestic premiere event. The additional 12 episodes will air exclusively on National Geographic Channels outside the U.S.
More than three decades after the debut of "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage," Carl Sagan's stunning and iconic exploration of the universe as revealed by science, Seth MacFarlane has teamed with Sagan's original creative collaborators – writer/executive producer Ann Druyan and co-writer, astronomer Steven Soter – to conceive the 13-part series that will serve as a successor to the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning original series.
COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY is hosted by renowned astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. As with the legendary original series, the new COSMOS is the saga of how we discovered the laws of nature and found our coordinates in space and time. The series brings to life never-before-told stories of the heroic quest for knowledge, transporting viewers to new worlds and across the universe for a vision of the cosmos on the grandest – and the smallest – scale. The series invents new modes of scientific storytelling to reveal the grandeur of the universe and re-invent celebrated elements of the original series, including the Cosmic Calendar and the Ship of the Imagination. The most profound scientific concepts are presented with stunning clarity, uniting skepticism and wonder, and weaving rigorous science with the emotional and spiritual into a transcendent experience.
COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY is produced by Cosmos Studios, the Ithaca, NY-based company Ann Druyan co-founded in 2000, and Fuzzy Door Productions, MacFarlane's company. Druyan and Steven Soter are the series' writers. Druyan, MacFarlane, Cosmos Studios President Mitchell Cannold and Brannon Braga (the "Star Trek" franchise, "24") executive-produce the series. Jason Clark ("Ted," "42") co-executive produces. "Like" COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY on Facebook at facebook.com/COSMOSonTV. Follow the series on Twitter @COSMOSonTV and join the discussion at #cosmos.
SOURCE National Geographic Channels


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According to the 2012 AVMA pet ownership survey, there are some 164 million cats and dogs in homes across the U.S., and attorneys Elizabeth Carrie and Robert Kass recommend that pet owners plan for the possibility that they may no longer be able to care for their animals. Naming a caregiver, providing detailed pet care instructions and dedicating money specifically to the pet's care are all important parts of the plan, according to Kass and Carrie. Bundling all the essentials into a specific, separate trust is the best way to ensure the plan will be implemented in the manner the owner intends, they said. Fox Business
If you're a parent, odds are you've thought about the unthinkable: Who will raise your children if something happens to you? Who do you trust to love and care for them the way you would? How do you provide the money needed and ensure that it will be used properly?
These concerns also come into play if you become disabled, even temporarily. Who can you depend on to step in until you recover?
Now consider this: there are three times as many households in the U.S. that have pets than have children- 57%, according to the American Veterinary Medicine Association's 2012 survey.
Compared to the 28 million children living in this country, Americans own more than 164 million cats and dogs. Adding birds to the mix brings the total to nearly 181 million pets (not to mention horses, small animals, fish, etc.).
For many of us, our pets are our "children." And, if you want to know they will be properly cared for in the event you can no longer do this yourself, Detroit attorneys Robert Kass and Elizabeth Carrie stress that you need to take some basic steps to ensure your wishes will be carried out.
Kass cites the case of a woman who committed suicide by jumping off a bridge. Although her body wasn't recovered for months, it took five days for co-workers and neighbors to realize she was not just away on a trip, but actually missing. During that time her cats were without food, water, and of course, their primary human companion. "When the authorities finally went into her apartment, the cats were crazed," he says.
If no one steps forward to take in an animal that, for whatever reason, can no longer be cared for by its owner, it is routinely taken to a shelter and put up for adoption. That's traumatic enough. Unfortunately, unless it is a "no-kill" shelter, if it isn't adopted within a certain period of time, an animal that was once your beloved pet, will be euthanized.
As Kass and Carrie point out in their book, Who Will Care when You're Not There?, the biggest mistake a pet owner makes is assuming she or he will outlive her cat, dog, rabbit, African Grey. If you truly care about your pet, that's a pretty big risk. Depending upon your age and health, the life expectancies of many species- parrots, for instance- make it very likely your pet will outlive you.
Another potential disaster is assuming that your cousin (Fast) Eddie- who always got along great with Fido on Thanksgiving visits- will: 1) know how to care for him (favorite toy, food allergies, medications, afraid of thunder, etc.) and 2) be willing to do so, even when Fido grows old and arthritic
While Eddie may, in fact, be an animal lover (he's always been fond of the horses- the Kentucky Derby and Belmont kind), there have been sporadic family rumors about money problems. If you leave a bequest to cover the cost of Fido's care, are you certain Eddie will use it for this purpose?
In the event Eddie surprises the family and ends up being a flawless replacement for you, what if he, himself, is incapacitated, hospitalized, or dies? Naming a successor caregiver is essential, say Kass and Carrie.
There are various avenues you can take to provide for the care of your furry and feathered "kids" if you become incapacitated. You can start with a Power of Attorney, which, unlike a typical POA (which generally covers financial assets) gives another individual the legal power to make decisions about your animal's care. This includes everything from moving it into their own home, to giving them discretion to take it to the vet, and so forth. If the individual isn't familiar with the pet, it's a good idea to attach an instruction sheet listing the veterinarian and grooming names, the preferred type of food and any other important notes about the pet to help it assimilate to a new home.
However, to be on the safe side, Kass and Carrie recommend creating a free-standing trust, separate from the trust that deals with your material possessions and human children. You can fund it with an amount of money that you feel will cover the care of your pet(s) for the remainder of their lifetimes, leaving anything that remains to, perhaps, a pet-affiliated charity. They recommend using attachments to the trust since these can be easily amended as your pets and the care they need change.
Ideally, you want to have an attorney with experience in pet planning and the laws of your state draw up the documents. "If you can't afford to do this," says Carrie, "legalzoom.net offers pet trusts online for less than $100." This document won't be as customized, but it's far better than nothing.
Consider everything you pet gives you- unconditionally and daily. Don't you want to be sure it will receive the care it needs if and when you're not able to provide it?
Ms. Buckner is a Retirement and Financial Planning Specialist and an instructor in Franklin Templeton Investments' global Academy. The views expressed in this article are only those of Ms. Buckner or the individual commentator identified therein, and are not necessarily the views of Franklin Templeton Investments, which has not reviewed, and is not responsible for, the content.
Read more: https://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/09/17/what-happens-to-your-pet-if-something-happens-to/#ixzz26wzrZl4w


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All News Releases By Date
EPA Celebrates Florida ENERGY STAR Leaders and Labeled Buildings
Release Date: 02/24/2012
Contact Information: Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8421, firstname.lastname@example.com
ATLANTA - Seven organizations in Florida were recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as Energy Star Leaders that improved the energy efficiency of their building portfolios by 20 percent or more. Nationally, EPA's Energy Star program helped 90 leading organizations achieve President Obama's goal by providing them with a proven energy management strategy, which includes a focus on ongoing performance measurement and whole-building improvement.
ENERGY STAR Leaders must meet one of two energy efficiency improvement milestones. The first milestone requires a 10 percent improvement in energy performance across their entire building portfolio. Subsequent recognition is given for each 10 percent improvement thereafter. The second milestone, known as "top performer," requires that buildings in an organization's portfolio, on average, perform in the top 25 percent when compared to similar buildings nationwide. To be eligible for ENERGY STAR Leaders recognition, organizations are required to track and submit energy performance data for all buildings and fuel sources through EPA's ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool.
Organizations in Florida that reached one or both of these milestones include:
Office Depot, Boca Raton
Osceola County School District
Polk County School Board
St. Johns County School District
Sumter County Schools
Sweetbay Supermarkets, Tampa
The Allen Morris Company, Coral Gables
ENERGY STAR Leaders have cumulatively saved more than $150 million on utility bills and prevented greenhouse gas emissions equal to the electricity used by nearly 95,000 homes. The complete list of ENERGY STAR Leaders includes more than 200 organizations and includes school districts, national retailers, commercial real estate companies, healthcare systems, supermarket operators and hotel managers that have achieved energy efficiency improvements across more than 11,400 buildings covering nearly 730 million square feet in the United States.
With help from EPA's Energy Star program, thousands of businesses and organizations are improving the energy efficiency of the places where we work, play and learn and are saving billions of dollars and preventing millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere each year.
Complete list of Energy Star Leaders as of December 31, 2011: http://www.energystar.gov/ia/business/leaders/Leaders_full_list_2011.pdf?2758-99c7
More about Energy Star Leaders: http://www.energystar.gov/leaders
Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases
View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.


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text: ASUS GeForce® GTX 970 DC Mini small form factor gaming graphics card 1228 MHz engine clock for better performance and outstanding gaming experience DirectCU Mini with vapor chamber offers 20% cooler and Vastly quieter performance DirectCU Mini measures just 17cm in length –making it the perfect choice for compact gaming PCs Premium alloys in power delivery components defeat heat for cards that run 15% faster and last 2.5 times longer than reference GPU Tweak helps you modify clock speeds, voltages, fan performance and more, all via an intuitive interface GPU Tweak Streaming share on-screen action in real time – so others can watch live as games are played Shop Modal header Go mini. Game Big. small form factor PCs based on mini ITX motherboards are a popular choice for gamers and home users. Their compact cases are much easier to transport to LAN parties than a standard desktop PC, and stylish designs with comparatively low power requirements make them a natural choice for home theater PCs. The ASUS GeForce® GTX 970 DirectCU Mini is designed to maximize the potential offered by mini ITX motherboards by delivering high performance graphics. It uses an innovative DirectCU thermal design that combines a heat-spreading vapor chamber and the CoolTech Fan, which uses wide-angle airflow and venting to cool critical graphics card components. I/O Ports Highlight 1 x Native DVI-I 1 x Native DVI-D 1 x Native HDMI 1 x Native DisplayPort DirectCU Mini 20% cooler Vastly quieter Award-winning DirectCU now includes custom vapor chamber technology and the new and advanced 360-degree CoolTech axial fan. Even in DirectCU Mini form, the proprietary design delivers up to 20% cooler temps and vastly quieter performance than reference. Super Alloy Power Enhanced durability and cooling Exclusively-formulated alloy components boost performance by reducing power loss, enhancing durability, and achieving cooler operation. Choke concrete cores eliminate buzzing sound under full load while capacitors assure a 50,000-hour lifespan: equivalent to 2.5 times longer than traditional capacitors. Small Form Factor for ITX Builds DirectCU Mini measures just 17cm in length – making it the perfect choice for compact gaming PCs. GPU Tweak with Streaming Real-time intuitive graphics tuning Shows detailed specs and actual card status with GPU-Z Monitoring widget provides real-time detailed multi-parameter info Automatically checks and updates drivers and BIOS versions Stream online instantly GPU Tweak streaming tool that lets you share on-screen action in real time – so others can watch live as games are played. It's even possible to add to the streaming window scrolling text, pictures and webcam images. GeForce GTX 970 NVIDIA® Adaptive V-Sync Get more than just faster frame rates. Get ultra-smooth gaming every time with NVIDIA® gaming innovation Adaptive Vertical Sync. This technology dynamically adjusts vsync to current frame rates for maximum playability. NVIDIA® PhysX™ Ready Play games with advanced effects such as blazing explosions and lifelike characters with 10X faster switching between graphics and physics processing, enabling more complex effects to be rendered in real time. SLI Support Multi-GPU technology for extreme performance NVIDIA® 3D Vision™ Surround Ready Bring games to life with NVIDIA® Surround™ multi-monitor gaming on a single card PCIe 3.0 Delivers double the bandwidth per lane of PCIe Gen 2 for faster GPU –CPU communication


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Book A Table
House of Smith, 26 Collingwood Street,
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear | T: 0191 261 8271
The only true VIP nightclub Newcastle has to offer, The House of Smith is a ballroom to make Gatsby proud, inviting you beyond the velvet rope and into his private lounge and bar, floating rounds of cocktails and champagne are delivered to your table by the finest and most skilled connoisseurs.
Think 50s glamour, the guilty appeal of the speak-easy, the luxury of platinum table service, and all courtesy of an invite by the alluring Mr Smith. Let him take your hand and lead you to the party that once only existed in the movies.
Proudly situated next door to 'Floritas' on the famous diamond strip, the exclusive 'House of Smith' draws back its velvet rope night after night, to reveal a venue which truly delights the after-dark clientele of Newcastle. The House of Smith is a ballroom to make Gatsby proud; think 50s glamour, the guilty appeal of the speak-easy, and the luxury of platinum table service, all hosted from the glittering heart of the city, by the dark eyed Mr. Smith.
This is a house where strangers become friends, and friends make history.


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Proving once again you don't need fancy 3D model rendering for an incredible gaming experience, Darkstalkers Resurrection brings some of Capcom's best horror-inspired combatants out of their tombs and onto the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade. A compilation of 1995's Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge and 1997's Darkstalkers 3, Resurrection was developed by Iron Galaxy Studios and has many of the popular options and features similarly found in their previously released Capcom collections Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition.
Resurrection does a great job of recreating the Darkstalkers experience, from fan-favorite characters like the buxom vampiress Morrigan and catsuit clad Felicia in all their 90's graphical glory to the frantic sweaty-palm inducing gameplay that all generations can appreciate. If you've never played a Darkstalkers title before, it only takes a basic knowledge of mechanics from the Street Fighter series to give you a button masher's chance of survival while still having hours of fun. While you could complete the individual detailed Tutorials to master the moves of each character, blindly jumping into a pool of bloodthirsty piranhas online posing as fighting fans is so much more thrilling.
Once you do feel confident enough in your fighting abilities, Darkstalkers Resurrection's robust online multiplayer mode is definitely where you'll be getting your money's worth. On top of standard quick matches and ranked matches, you can also join or host your own tournaments and tweak matchmaking options to suit your tastes and/or skill level. For voyeurs who would like to study their prey first, or those who simply love to watch a good fight or two, you can also view player uploaded match replays online to learn the subtleties of what sets great fighters apart from good ones.
Darkstalkers Resurrection is one of the best values available for fighting fans on any console right now, and really should not be missed. Old school arcade junkies will love the enhanced graphics and options of both Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge and Darkstalkers 3, and can rest easy that the original charm of each title has been retained. Younger fans of the fighting genre will love the original characters and deep lore, and will enjoy the challenge of going up against those who have played these titles for nearly two decades.
Even if you're only mildly curious of how a bloody brawl between werewolves, vampires, mechanical automatons, demons, and Little Red Riding Hood impersonators would play out, Darkstalkers Resurrection is among the most fun you can have on either side of the grave.
Darkstalkers Resurrection is available now on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade.


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Residents remember fatal collision involving train, dump truck
Amtrak train and truck collided on July 11, 2011
Two years ago today, Thursday, North Berwick residents said their town came to a standstill.
That's when the Amtrak Downeaster collided with a truck carrying more than 20 tons of compacted trash, killing the driver.
Investigators believe Peter Barnum, 35, was talking on his cellphone when the crash happened.
Four of the train's 112 passengers suffered minor injuries.
On Thursday, WMTW News 8's Aly Myles spoke with neighbors who said the accident left a scar on the town that will never be forgotten.
"There was smoke everywhere and it smelled terrible," said Jessica Momenee.
She said she was picking raspberries with her daughter when she hear the collision.
"We saw the engine come to a stop right about these high trees here and it was in full flames. I looked down and I prayed our house wasn't on fire 'cause the trees started to light up and so I called the police and said, 'something's going on, please get down there and help,'" said Momenee.
Like Momenee, Robert Conley lives hundreds of yards from the intersection. Both said their back yards were bursting with flames.
"A lot of the parts of the train were in here. We found like microphones in here, all types of stuff," said Conley.
He said the noise was so loud that it woke him from a deep sleep. He said it reminded him of his tours in Iraq.
"The only way I could describe it is when I was overseas -- mortar rounds and IEDs. It was about that loud, if not louder, and the smell was obviously of metal," he said.
Both Conley and Momenee said the experience continues to haunt them every time they hear the whistle blow.
"It startles me a little bit. I mean, when I hear it, I'm up," Conley said.


text:
One of the 1990s biggest bands is getting back together.
The British alt-grunge rock outfit Bush is about to embark on a tour and release a new CD after an eight year break, reports the New York Daily News.
The new look lineup will contain lead singer/songwriter Gavin Rossdale, who is married to Gwen Stefani, and drummer Robin Goodridge. The band's other original members - Nigel Pulsford and Dave Parsons - will not join the tour. However, Rossdale is excited to perform again, and the band will play some of their big hits, such as "Everything," "Comedown," and "Glycerine."
U.S. & World
"I'm so pleased because I've got my voice back," he said in an interview with Reuters. "To be in Bush, you're basically born to be in...it's like a suit of armor."
The new CD will be called "Everything Always Now" but a release date has not been set. The band will play at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in New Jersey on October 30.
Selected Reading: NY Daily News, Reuters, Hartford Courant


text: Sijun Forums :: View topic - Big Balls Log in to check your private messages Sijun Forums Forum Index >> Random Musings View previous topic :: View next topic Author Topic : "Big Balls" TzanmemberMember #Joined: 18 Apr 2003Posts: 755Location: Boston MA Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 1:29 pm http://vimeo.com/41892788# Back to top durgldeepmemberMember #Joined: 14 Sep 2001Posts: 859 Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 5:24 pm Well that was disappointing. But yeah, accidental shapes/effects ("[in] carving a ball I'm able to find so much"), that's the stuff. "It's a conversation about life and history." Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Sijun Forums Forum Index -> Random Musings All times are GMT - 8 Hours Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Digital Art----------------Digital Art DiscussionWork in ProgressGallery/Finished Work Miscellaneous----------------Random MusingsArchive : Sep99 - Dec00 You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum Powered by phpBB © 2005 phpBB Group


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This Blog is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Some posters are court ordered to have no contact of any kind with the person having a Restraining Order against them. Meaning no third party contact as well. If you by chance know a person one of our posters/authors is discussing to share their experiences with others, we ask you to respect our rights to free speech, under the United States Constitution. Restraining Order Blog is not meant to harass, directly or indirectly contact, harm, intimidate, bring any emotional distress, stalk or cyberstalk, nor intentionally slander or damage any individual in any way. Nor is it intended to initiate any third party contact on behalf of any poster or author, or violate a current restraining order in any way either. If you feel there is anything here that is slanderous, untrue, or illegal, please bring it to our attention. We will examine your request promptly, and any post you find offensive will be reviewed for removal in a timely manner. If you have a story to share, email me at firstname.lastname@example.com, and I will add you as an author on Restraining Order Blog.
The Booming Domestic Violence Industry
The Social-Work Movement that Fights Domestic Violence has Grown Large on State and Federal Tax Monies
Massachusetts News
By John Maguire
August 2--All across Massachusetts, the social-work movement that fights domestic violence is booming.
Only ten years ago, the women's safety-advocates were a small group of idealists, operating on pennies. Today the movement has grown large on state and federal tax monies.
Every month, it seems, it spawns new sub-programs, clinics, shelters, research institutes, counseling centers, visitation centers, poster campaigns. The state disbursed about $24 million for domestic violence services last year, but that certainly is not all the money spent. Today domestic violence is a big industry in Massachusetts.
Mapping the full extent of the domestic-violence industry is not easy, because it's a cottage-industry, spread out in hundreds of places. State and federal money goes to well over a hundred institutes, clinics, programs for counseling or outreach or coordination or training, computer databases, coalitions, shelters, PR agencies and other groups.
Most would say that's just fine: Domestic violence is ugly and ought to be dealt with. But others are beginning to wonder if the huge industrial cure is as bad as the disease.
One of many critics is John Flaherty, co-chairman of the Fatherhood Coalition. "This industry is an octopus," he said recently. "It's got its tentacles in more and more parts of everyday life. It's a political movement. Many of its employees are, directly or indirectly, damaging children. This industry doesn't answer to anybody. They're in it mainly for the money -- and the children be damned." The industry's problems may be about to increase, because it is becoming clear through scientific research that the whole premise of the movement and the industry it spawned -- that "domestic violence" means bad men hitting helpless, innocent women -- is just plain wrong.
Women and men attack each other about equally in the home. Solid research now shows that women begin the physical fighting in their homes about half the time. Equally solid research shows that mothers are responsible for 65 per cent of physical abuse of children.
Although the words "domestic" violence are commonly used, some commentators say that a better description would be "shack-up" violence, because violence is most common, especially where children are involved where the woman is living with a boy friend. In a piece in the Weekly Standard last December by John A. Barnes, he cited four studies which show "that the incidence of abuse was an astounding 33 times higher in homes where the mother was cohabiting with an unrelated boyfriend than in a stable nuclear family."
The uncomfortable truth is spreading. The very liberal, if not PC magazine Mother Jones ran a news story last month admitting as much. "A surprising fact has turned up in the grimly familiar world of domestic violence," reported Nancy Updike. She wrote: "Women report using violence in their relationships more often than men. The research disputes a long held belief about the nature of domestic violence -- that if a woman hits, it's only in response to her partner's attacks."
The writer admitted that 20-year-old myths in the movement were starting to fall. The study of 860 men and women, she said, "suggest that some women may be prone to violence -- by nature of circumstance -- just as some men may be."
Looking at the Bottom Line $$$
In 1999, the state spent $24 million of its own and federal tax dollars
"fighting has grown large on state and federal tax monies violence." The budgets have risen steadily every year. Slightly more than half of that money ($13.6 million) goes to pay for 37 battered women's shelters and to pay their staff. There are no shelters or services for men who are victims of domestic violence -- only women or homosexual men get these services.
About a fifth of the money ($5.3 million) is spent in and around the courts, paying for prosecutors, legal representation for women, and training for court personnel.
Of the remainder, at least $1 million goes to posters, ads, and other "outreach" campaigns telling people not to be violent. The high-school campaign gathers teen-agers to watch a play called "The Yellow Dress." Its point is that dating can end in murder, and men should not be trusted. It costs the state $500,000 each year.
"Massachusetts and the Boston region have been very successful in winning federal money," said Clare Dalton, of the Northeastern University Domestic Violence Institute.
"We've got some federal money here. The Police Department has also been very successful in getting federal money."
Federal money for domestic violence programs flows into the state in several streams. One large source is the Victims of Crime Act money, which is disbursed by the Massachusetts Office of Victim Assistance. Another source of big federal dollars is the federal Violence Against Women Act, which is administered by the Executive Office of Public Safety (EOPS). Both MOVA and EOPS are located in state offices at 1 Ashburton Place, next to the State House. MOVA's on the 11th floor, EOPS is on the 21st.
Getting answers even to simple questions on how much money is being spent is not easy. Three weeks of repeated calls and visits to staffers in the Cellucci administration brought sluggish or no response. Jean Hurtle, the Executive Director of the Governor's Commission on Domestic Violence, when asked repeatedly for a fact sheet on how much money was being spent in this field produced nothing. Jason Kauppi, an executive office press aide, failed to respond to roughly ten phone calls requesting information on the domestic violence budget. The figures above and in the accompanying box came from the staff of Sen. Steven Panagiotakos, D-Lowell.
According to Cam Huff of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, budgets at the Department of Social Services have risen almost seven per cent per year, since 1993. Compared with the overall budget, he says, this is "significantly higher than average."
If the domestic violence industry were an old-fashioned textile mill, the central power-shaft turning all its machinery would be the 209A restraining order. Judges issue them at the rate of 145 a day, according to the Boston Globe. Without the steady roll of restraining orders, all the machinery of the domestic violence industry would grind to a halt.
To the activists, the 209A law is almost a magic sword that saves women's lives. "There's almost a religion of restraining orders among women's advocates," commented Ray Saulnier, a fathers' rights activist from Maine.
But a growing number of men, their relatives, and lawyers find the 209A law grossly unfair -- almost a police-state tool that destroys families and saves very few. Recent efforts to reform the law have gained sympathetic hearings in the Legislature.
On the books for 20 years, 209A became the tool of choice for the activists in the early 1990s. Almost every year since then, that scope of the law has been expanded, and the grounds for defense diminished. Activists have sought and gained almost draconian powers for women, on the argument of a "crisis" in domestic violence.
As the law has expanded, its enforcers have multiplied. Today this state has hundreds if not thousands of 209A specialists who have been trained. Training in getting restraining orders, and in helping and urging women to get them occupies a significant amount of the curriculum at Northeastern University's Domestic Violence Institute internship program. Federally paid advocates in many if not all district and probate courts in the state are also trained to assist women in getting restraining orders. To the movement/industry, the restraining order is a shining sacred sword of power that can never do harm, but magically protects women and children at all times.
The restraining orders bring the police power of the state immediately to the woman's protection, and the man she says she is afraid of is immediately thrown out of his house, if not arrested.
Tool of Police State?
But to others, a restraining order looks an awful lot like the tool of a police state. Attorney Sheara Friend, of the Wellesley firm Kahalas, Warshaw & Friend, estimates that about half of all restraining orders are merely legal maneuvers, where there is no real fear of injury on anyone's part. If she's right, about 20,000 of this state's restraining orders each year have nothing to do with domestic violence -- other than to claim it. If each of those phony orders harms seven people (a father, two kids, two grandparents and two other relatives) then 140,000 Massachusetts citizens suffer needless disruption and emotional pain each year.
About ten years ago, some evidence was required. Someone had to show bruises, or bring in testimony to support the accusation.
The legislature has loosened the standard. Now the person seeking the order need only state he or she is "in fear" of the other person.
It doesn't take a cynic to point out that when a woman is getting a divorce, what she may truly fear is not violence, but losing the house or kids. Under 209A, if she's willing to fib to the judge and say she is "in fear" of her children's father, she will get custody and money and probably the house.
"Mediation and communication counseling are critical in a divorce," says Sheara Friend. "The 209A non-contact order prevents that. Especially if it's a divorce that involves children, you need the parties talking with each other. The 209A completely stops that. It's a very divisive thing to do right at the time the parties need to talk. You can't even get the parties in the same building."
Bad For Fathers & Children
Long-term emotional damage to children's fathers -- surely not good for children -- often begins with a restraining order, she says.
"A man against whom a frivolous 209A has been brought starts to lose any power in his divorce proceeding. They do start decompensating, and they do start to have emotional issues, and they do start developing post-traumatic stress disorders. They keep replaying in their minds the tape of what happened to them in court. It starts this whole vicious downward cycle. They've been embarrassed and shamed in front of their family and friends, unjustly, and they totally lose any sense of self-control and self-respect. They may indeed become verbally abusive. It's difficult for the court to see where that person was prior to the restraining order."
This is a different era from the 1950s, she points out, and many fathers are very close to their children, and bond closely with them from an early age.
"In this day and age, we have fathers who take an extremely active role in parenting -- sometimes more than the mother."
"I call them mother-dads," she says. In many restraining-order cases, she says, "These fathers are completely frustrated because they can't co-parent their child because of a restraining order. They have been raped of their parenting relationship with their child."
While Friend and others see false restraining orders as enormously destructive, and permanently traumatizing, the $24 million domestic violence industry is built on the restraining order. Most of the activities that people get paid for in the domestic violence industry cannot start until a restraining order has been issued.
Permanent Lifetime Record
The restraining order is entered into the state's restraining order registry on a computer in downtown Boston. It is never deleted. Police officers, probation officers and judges have the right to check the database.
What will it do to someone's career if they are in there indefinitely and an employer somehow calls in to check? "We can't respond to that question," said Coria Holland, press person for the Mass Probation Service. "Probation is just the conduit for getting the information into the system. We're just the recording arm."
"Supervised visitation" is a booming part of the industry today. In 1994, only three visitation centers existed -- they were pilot projects in Springfield, Roxbury and Brockton. Today, there are 13 state-funded centers absorbing nearly a million dollars a year. These centers not only get state funding, they also charge fathers for the privilege of seeing their own offspring. Rates go as high as $120 for ninety minutes.
The assumption "is that a lot of dads are abusing their children and their access to their children must be supervised," declares Michael Ewing, a fatherhood activist. Though research suggests this assumption is completely false, the supervised visitation industry has skyrocketed anyway.
The centers strongly assume that children's fathers are guilty of some unnamed crime. Caring fathers with the bad luck to be accused often endure insulting, exploitative treatment to see their children. They complain rarely, because the social workers can and do end visitation for little or no reason.
Pamela Whitney, a social worker who came to the Massachusetts Department of Social Services in 1986 as a consultant, has been Director of Domestic Violence and Family Support Services since 1994. Her office is at 24 Farnsworth Street in Boston. She supervises a budget that was $13.6 million last year, and may go higher.
She says supervised visitation is recommended "where there has been a separation between the parents and a history of domestic abuse."
When challenged, she backtracks and admits she meant to say "accusation of domestic abuse."
She says her department pushed for visitation centers, beginning with three pilot centers in the early 1990s. The department recommended expansion, "because the courts found it so helpful and useful." Now there are 13. She said her goal was to have at least one in every county. More are probably coming.
"The feeling on the part of the courts and others was it was often unsafe for children to visit with their offending parent," she said. She acknowledged that when she said "offending parent" she meant a parent who had been accused of an offence.
Each state-supported visitation center is funded by D.S.S. to such a level that it has at least $75,000 to work with. The money goes to fund staff and a "budget coordinator." The coordinator "does outreach to the courts and other agencies." D.S.S. funds also pay, she said, for "the people who are actually doing the visit between the parent and child."
"Some visits don't need to be supervised," she said. "But in other cases where there is higher risk involved...this provides supervision for those who are doing the actual visit." The observers are trained according to "guidelines" developed by the central nexus for DV policy in the state, theGovernor's Commission on Domestic Violence.
She acknowledged that the same accusation that forces a man into a center, also forces him to pay both his and his wife's fees. "If A says that B is abusive, then B has to pay the money," she said.
Ms. Whitney said she thought the sliding scales ranged from $1 to $5, and that an indigent parent could do community service to pay for his visitation time.
But in reality, at least in Robert Straus' center in Cambridge, the sliding scale runs from $20 to $40 or $80 per hour, and any parent who cannot pay cannot see his children.
Asked her reaction to the case of the father of three who recently had to pay The Meeting Place $120 to see his children for 90 minutes, she said, "I've never heard of such a thing. One hundred twenty dollars a visit is extraordinary."
"All these visitations have been ordered because the children involved are at risk," explains Robert Straus, a lawyer and social worker, and currently director of the Meeting Place, in Cambridge. Straus has been a key figure in our state's development of professional supervised visitation. Asked to explain "at risk", he says: "You have a range of physical and sexual abuse situations where the parent is either alleged to be, or been proved to, abuse the child."
"As you know," he adds, confidentially, "there have been a number of deaths in Massachusetts." When asked to name an actual child's death he was referring to, however, he said he could not remember.
Straus has been part of an informal matrix of lawyers, judges, social workers, academics and domestic violence activists since the early 1990s. These people, some idealistic and some merely pragmatic, have networked, talked with each other, served on various commissions, boosted each other' s careers, and helped to expand the definition of domestic violence, and the size of state and federal funding massively.
Straus is a leader now, and heads what is called the Supervised Visitation Network. He described the growth of that group in glowing, emotional terms during a phone interview.
"The Supervised Visitation Network started in 1992. A group of people met in New York through the Ethical Culture Society, which had started a supervised visitation program in New York City. At that point it was just 30 people from around the country, most of whom had never met anyone else doing supervision. We had all been working in isolation. It was an extremely high energy meeting. It was very much an informal association of people helping each other out. It began with a handful of members and now has over 400 members throughout the U.S., Canada, and Australia. It's a fascinating field...because when it began it was virtually without funding."
But not any more. Though The Meeting Place began in 1991 with only a grant from the Boston Bar Foundation, and continued to 1998 "without a penny of public money" that public money is starting to flow now, Straus admits with a tone of satisfaction.
The major state source is through the state DSS Domestic Violence Unit, whose budget of over $900,000 "has been an immense advance over the last few years.."
What if the father doesn't have enough money to see his kid in a given week? "Difficult question," answers Straus, who pauses and then says the father gets "a week's grace" and then the child-father contact is cut off.
His program never tries to get husbands and wives to talk out their problems privately, he said, but urges them to go back to court instead. He said children are in visitation for long periods, from nine months to many years. He said that no matter how well, how happily, the father-child interaction is going, his program never recommends to the judge that supervision should end and normal parent-child contact resume.
These programs have sprung up all across America " entrepreneurial tricks and ideas spread easily each summer at this industry's conferences. Wherever supervised visitation has appeared, criticism has followed.
In Virginia, Michael Ewing, president of the Virginia Fatherhood Initiative, has an unusual perspective. He is one of the few pro-father people ever to run a "visitation center." His non-profit organization applied for and got a federal grant to negotiate access and visitation issues between divorced parents. He hoped to show that in situations of conflict between divorced parents, supervised visitation was not necessary. He sees such programs as "designed to humiliate men." In his program's first year, the Norfolk area courts made more than 700 case referrals. "We solved all of the problems but two," Ewing said. "Only two families required supervised visitation."
"There are many ways to handle the exchange of children without having parents supervised. We ran a neutral pickup and drop off program and there were no problems. We made clear to parents that they had to be 'model citizens' during drop off, or they would be reported to the court."
He said the supervised visitation idea has been " beefed up with phony statistics" and there is very little need for it.
He said he thinks supervised visitation came about "because women wanted to con- trol the dad's access to their children, and to humiliate them by making them see their children in the presence of a social worker and pay for the privilege of doing so."
Perhaps because of its success, Michael Ewing's non-visitation-center approach to family conflict lost its funding in the second year. He said he thinks a local social worker who had lost clients due to Ewing's success complained to an influential state senator.
How many of these supervision cases really require supervision for the safety of the children? Michael Ewing doesn't think very many: he found two cases out of 700.
But the domestic violence entrepreneurs and state officials live in a different world from us. A sense of nameless vague threat is always in the background. To hear the pros talk, all the men they deal with are batterers, sexual abusers, or virtually time bombs of violence. Repeated cliches like "at risk" and "a safe place" and "maintaining safety" pepper their sentences. Yet, in many cases, there is no evidence of violence or any kind of serious harm to children " merely an accusation by the mother. But in the DV industry, when the accusation is made, the case is closed.
At least some of the men interviewed for this story are devoted fathers. It is clear that some have heroically maintained contact with their children over a period of years, despite having to pay a small fortune in cash and endure repeated harassment by petty, vindictive state officials. During a dozen hours of telephone interviews, not one supervised-visitation official spoke any word of praise for any man's love of his children.
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